Chinese Entrepreneurs Vs. Canadian Currency

Dave Killion — December 13, 2013

Sell! Sell!

Just over two years ago, I told you how I was having fun collecting nickels of a certain date. At the time, the melt value of those coins was in the vicinity of 12¢ each, and I have accumulated about (face value) $200 worth. How has my investment fared? Not so well. As of this writing, those nickels have a melt value of merely 6¢ each! There was a time when I was buying rolls of nickels from the bank and sorting through them, but now it’s hardly even worth the effort to check my change every day and pull the ‘good’ nickels out. How has this come about? Reed Watson and Greg Sauer of the Property and Environment Research Center have the answer –

“The price (of nickel) peaked in 2007 at $50,000 per metric ton, up from $10,000 just a few years earlier. Responding to the scarcity, Chinese entrepreneurs figured out how to substitute a lower-grade nickel known as “nickel pig iron” in the steel manufacturing process. As a result, the price of nickel plummeted to $14,000 per metric ton, and China became a leading nickel producer.”

Despite the devastating effect these Chinese entrepreneurs have had on my speculative ambitions, I’m glad to see yet another concrete example of innovation overcoming scarcity.